Harry Potter and the Chess King
by IcyLady
Summary: Direct continuation of "Harry Potter and a dance with the devil". A secret spy in the heart of Hogwarts, a demon and the desire to extract revenge.
1. Whispers in the dark

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**This story is a sequel to "Harry Potter and a dance with the devil" and while I suppose it's not obligatory to read the story to understand this one, I strongly recommend it of course ;) You can find "Harry Potter and a dance with the devil" on my profile.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Whispers in the dark**

Severus Snape kneeled in front of the throne of his Dark Lord, head bowed in a perfect picture of submission. They were alone in the room, heavy silence weighting Snape down even more than the steely gaze of his Lord.

'Raise, my friend,' a hiss broke the silence and Snape raised his head slowly, looking into the inhuman face of the Dark Lord.

'My Lord,' he spoke slowly.

'How was the ceremony?'

'My Lord knows that I do not appreciate this kind of gatherings,' Snape spoke cautiously. He could not, under any circumstances, betray his true thoughts on the apparent new favourite of the Dark Lord. 'The marriage was a Muggle ceremony, as my Lord surely knows, and I find it revolting,' there was no problem, however, in pointing out the bad sides of Duke Durless.

'Ah yes, the Duke of course had very good reasons,' the hissing voice carried a note of displeasure and Snape smiled mentally.

'Of course,' he said smoothly. 'I have delivered my Lord's gift for the newly weds in private, to avoid the possible speculations.'

'Good.'

'I have left the party, however, as soon as it was polite to do so,' Snape continued. 'To do anything else would have been out of character for me, no matter how happy I am for the newly weds,' he allowed sarcasm to tint the last statement.

Another silence weighted down the mood in the room as the Dark Lord studied his servant carefully, doubtlessly scanning the memories and emotions that Snape readily produced up for inspection. The last one came unbidden – an aftershock of the whole affair.

'Ah yes, I have heard that Sirius Black made another appearance,' the hiss sounded vaguely amused. If he could, Snape would have groaned. Some Muggles discovered Sirius Black, beaten up and bound in a truly masochistic way, in the church, the day after the ceremony. They called the police and it was only by a miracle that Flitwick and himself came just then to clean up after the anti-detection spells and managed to convince the Muggles that he would take Sirius Black home.

'Yes, my Lord. I am not aware how he came to be there and why he bothered, but if I was to guess, I would assume that he wanted to come and show who is the man,' he didn't even try to hide contempt from his voice. In the race to his most hated human, Black still won and it was with infinite pleasure that he memorized the picture: tired and hungry, beaten up and bound like a dog his was – Sirius Black. Of course the Dark Lord would interpret it his own way, but for once that was not Snape's problem.

'Most amusing indeed,' the Dark Lord said flatly. 'Tell me, Severus, is the Order hiding more surprises that the supposedly dead Sirius Black?' there was steel in the hiss and even the candles flickered.

'Not to my knowledge. The Order is most worried with the recent events, however, and in rush to find a way of preventing more deaths.'

'Things are looking good for us, Severus,' the hissing voice grated Snape's nerves.

'Yes, my Lord. The recent raids have been most satisfying,' he said, fighting to hide his true feelings. He bowed his head to hide his revolted expression. He abhorred the idea of casual killing sprees that most of his fellow Deatheaters were enjoying so much.

'That is not what I meant.'

'My Lord?'

'The unfortunate accident of Vincent has been, in the end, fortunate…' the hissing voice took on a speculative quality. 'I am sure you are aware that now, after the unfortunate death of Lucius, you, Severus, are my most trusted Deatheater.'

'It is an honour, my Lord,' Snape said, bowing his head again, wondering if there was a connection between those two deaths. He knew better than to ask, however.

'It is also a responsibility, Severus,' the Dark Lord hissed. 'We have now managed to insert a perfect spy into the very heart of resistance, Severus, and it will be your main task to make sure that it stays that way.'

'My Lord?' Snape questioned, although the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he already knew the answer.

'You see, people suspected Vincent of being a Deatheater and that would have not worked. Dumbledore would never let somebody like that into his school. However, with the death of Vincent, there was a void and what better than filling it with somebody who has a past as clean as snow? Nobody knows about Cain's true allegiance, or am I wrong?'

'Nobody knows, my Lord.'

'It has to remain that way, Severus, because you and I are now the only ones that know. Vincent knew of course, but that has been taken care of.'

'My Lord! Nobody else knows?' Snape exclaimed. This was alarming – that way there was absolutely no way he could get away with betraying the secret and blaming it on somebody else.

'Nobody.'

'Not even Duke Durless? The future duchess?'

'He might suspect the truth, yes. But neither him nor the future duchess would risk any sort of rumour about that going out. It is also a chance for the Duke to purify a bit the name of his family in the eyes of the wizarding community.'

'Of course, my Lord,' Snape said, thinking furiously. The Dark Lord was correct in that assumption. Neither of the two would risk as much as a slip of a gossip escaping the household, not when they were riding high on the pity after the Phantomhive tragedy, not when they could permanently get any suspicions off their backs.

'That is why your role is so important, Severus. Everybody knows that you were once a Deatheater, but you have the trust of Dumbledore. Use it if you must. If Cain's foot slips you have to be there to cover up for him, because it is essential that he gains the trust of Dumbledore as well.'

'Of course, my Lord,' Snape said, very careful to not speak through gritted teeth.

'I will limit any direct contact with him to minimize the risk and of course he is exempt from our regular meetings, so you will have to keep him informed about our moves and my orders.'

'Of course, my Lord.'

'Very good. I expect that you and Cain work together without fault, I have high hopes for you and I don't want any petty fight for the power to ruin that. Neither of you is worth to me as much as the two of you working together, so make no mistakes, Severus.'

'Of course, my Lord.'

'Now please send in the young Greengrass, I think he will make a fine replacement for Vincent in his other operations and he will hopefully find me a replacement for Cain in Germany fast. Those two were really marvellous together, it's such a pity that Vincent perished like that,' the Dark Lord said with no hint of sadness in his snake-like voice.

Wordlessly, Snape bowed and left the dark room. He let the nervous, young man know that it was his turn and felt pity for him, when he went in eagerly. Vincent Phantomhive was very good in his job and any replacement would have a difficult time living up to the expectations of the Dark Lord.

That, however, was not his problem. He disappearated as soon as he could and already formulated his report to Dumbledore in his head. With the new information they needed to thread even more carefully. Also, he would need to think on how to give his new partner absolutely no suspicions about his true allegiance, while still hampering all his projects. Really, it would have solved all his problems if Dumbledore appointed a new teacher, but there was absolutely no reason to fire Cain Kruspe.

With a sigh, Severus Snape entered the building of the school of witchcraft and wizardry. He and Dumbledore had a week to prepare their strategy before the other teachers would come back to prepare the new school year and the "perfect spy" would come back from his honey-moon.


	2. Comeback to school

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**This story is a sequel to "Harry Potter and a dance with the devil" and while I suppose it's not obligatory to read the story to understand this one, I strongly recommend it of course ;) You can find "Harry Potter and a dance with the devil" on my profile.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Comeback to school**

The summer has been dreadful. Almost every day news of death or disappearance graced the pages of both Muggle and wizarding journals. The former usually found reasons to the deaths of the Muggles – there has been a lot of gang activity in London suburban lately and a madman who murdered women in Manchester, for example.

Daily Prophet, however, started to suggest shyly that maybe the Dark Lord has risen, or at least the Deatheaters got more organized with time. While it was a relief to be believed finally, Harry realized that it meant that things were going really badly. He read the newspaper every day, holding his breath until he saw that none of his friends were mentioned, none of the people he cared for or loved.

Even the stay at Grimmauld Place was not fun, with Sirius as he was. The man suffered through a horrible humiliation which, combined with the apparently broken heart, reduced him to a shadow of his previous self. He would spend most of his time in his room, looking at old photos or staring at the ceiling. Sometimes he didn't even participate in the meetings and if he did, he spent them looking in front with empty eyes, as Harry heard Remus say once.

Of course it didn't help that Snape transported Sirius to the Order headquarters still bound, to have the outraged Remus free his friend and perform the first aid to his best abilities. Thankfully the wounds were not overly serious.

It was a statement of his state that even Snape didn't make comments about Sirius' condition the day after the "wedding of the century", even if Harry saw the Deatheater smile maliciously sometimes. Not that Sirius reacted to any sort of teasing or taunting anymore.

It was thus, with longing that Harry awaited the beginning of the new school year.

'Oh my, it's such a relief to be on the train,' Hermione muttered, when they settled down. 'I love Padfoot, but that man is not him anymore and it's so painful to watch,' she added with a sad tone.

'Yeah, I didn't know that a broken heart could do that to you,' Ron added. Harry didn't say anything, wondering if there was anything he could do for his godfather. Nothing he tried so far had worked.

'Looks like I'll be seeing you around this year,' said a voice on the other side of the window and Harry turned to see the reason of Sirius' depression, Angelina Kruspe, saying good-bye to her nephew, a second-year Slytherin, Ciel Phantomhive. He looked at her, dressed in an extravagant, blood-red dress, and wondered what was so amazing that Sirius saw in her.

'I suppose so,' Ciel answered quietly, still seemingly shy and overwhelmed by the crowd, clutching his black cat. This year, Harry would figure out what was wrong about this boy because there was something… something Harry couldn't name, but that shouldn't have been there.

'Now, get on the train before it goes. Draco and Elizabeth are already there, I saw them get in when we arrived,' Angelina, otherwise known as Madame Red, said and, as if on cue, Narcissa Malfoy came to greet her and Harry looked away. Moments later, Ciel passed by their compartment, but he didn't even pause to look at them.

'I wonder if we'll have the same Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher as last year,' Ron wondered, now looking out of the window at the retreating figures of the two women. 'That will be weird, or what?'

'A bit. But maybe we'll have some education in that case,' Hermione commented. She was possibly the only one who approved of the strict teaching of their German teacher. Ginny joined them in time to hear the last comment and Harry's heart beat faster, he realized with a blush.

'And of course he's probably the only teacher who's even remotely good looking,' she commented and Harry felt the irrational desire to tear apart their teacher. Hermione giggled.

'That is a good point,' she said. 'Sometimes I wonder how it must be when new teachers come.'

'Don't they come old already?' Ron asked, making both girls roll their eyes. 'And anyways – what are we supposed to say?'

'Well, you get to choose between McGonagall and Sprout,' Ginny laughed.

'This is not even funny,' Harry and Ron replied.

They spent the trip on friendly bickering and catching up with those friends who came walking by their compartment and, by the time they reached Hogwarts, Harry had almost forgotten all about Sirius and the horror of the summer.

})i({

The summer has been dreadful. With every news of a Deatheater attack, Ciel breathed a sigh of relief only to return to the tense waiting afterwards. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen and he was rather secure about his safety, but Elizabeth was blissfully ignorant about the situation and thus rather careless. She insisted on countless things: pick-nicks in the vast gardens of her parents, sight-seeing trips all over Europe, shopping in London and Paris… He would lie if he said that he didn't enjoy her company and that all the activities were not fun, but he could never fully relax when they were almost alone.

Sometimes they took Draco and Astoria, who were getting to know each other as well, hoping to cope with the role that was given to them. Sometimes they went in a larger group or visited somebody who was throwing a party.

'It will be almost as taking a rest after all those things we did during the summer,' Ciel commented as they changed into their school robes in the train.

'Yeah, but it was quite a good summer I think,' Draco agreed and they let the girls back into the compartment.

They left the train, took the carriage to school and made their way to the Great Hall, which was rapidly filling with noisy students. Everybody wanted to say hello to at least three other students and everybody wanted to boost with their holidays and find out what their friends were doing.

Much to his surprise, Ciel participated in the general commotion, catching up with his roommates until the noise died down and teachers came into the Great Hall, taking their places and the Sorting Hat was brought.

The Sorting went smoothly and then Dumbledore announced that for the first time in many years there were no changes of teachers and that he was very happy about that and hoping to see it in the upcoming years as well.

After the feast, Ciel was grateful to find himself alone in his bed. He closed the curtains, cast a silencing spell and called his faithful demon.

'My Lord,' the demon-butler said a split of a second later.

'Have you checked the castle?'

'Yes, my Lord. I have checked all the exits and corridors, as well as all the classrooms. There seems to be no tracking devices, nor anything that would allow to overhear conversations.'

'Good. What about the security measures?'

'I have not been able to test the security, but it seems that everything is in place. In any case, I have been able to establish that it is in fact the teachers of the school who make the security.'

'So Cain will know everything,' Ciel noted with some satisfaction.

'It should be relatively easy for my Lord to arrange meetings with Professor Kruspe, now that you are officially related.'

'Yes, that will definitely help matters. Very well, Sebastian. Take some rest for tonight, but from tomorrow I expect you back on the ideas on how to reach the Dark Lord.'

'Of course, my Lord.' Without much hesitation, the butler turned into a cat and went out of the bed to guard his master.

Ciel laid in bed, eyes closed but unable to fall asleep. During the summer most of his and Sebastian's attention has been directed to the matters of security and survival, however, it seemed that the Dark Lord had no more interest in pursuing his family. Was it because of the marriage? Or did he get enough of revenge by murdering Ciel's parents and he decided to spare the future Deatheater, Ciel? Was there any other motive behind the workings of the Dark Lord, something his father failed to grasp?

For safety, he burned the diary of his father, not wanting anybody to find it an read what was inside. He had, anyway, memorized almost the whole book, especially the parts that he deemed important for his self-assigned task.

Now that he was back at Hogwarts, within its relative safety and away from his overly curious and nosy grandfather and aunt, he could finally take care of the important matters.


	3. Let the games begin!

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Let the games begin!**

Snape stood in the back of Dumbledore's office, listening to the briefing that the headmaster was giving to the members of the Order of the Phoenix. They have decided to spare four members at a time to provide even more security to the school.

The members of the Order would patrol the corridors, together with the teachers. The latter had been informed about it and took the news with some worry as they meant that there were reasons to be afraid. Snape had witnessed that meeting as well, being one of the teachers, and had spend it studying the expressions and reactions of the other teachers, trying to see if any of them was behaving in a suspicious way. With a Deatheater on board there was no telling who might be under the Imperius curse.

'Will we patrol the corridors with the teachers or rather on the side?' Remus asked, some worry in his voice. Next to him, Sirius' face twisted in a truly murderous expression.

'I think you'll be doing the patrols in twos, not together with the teachers. But they have to know that you'll be around and you have to know they'll be around,' Dumbledore replied, probably also noticing Sirius' expression. 'I'll give you the schedule of the teachers for the next two months and you can make the schedule of the Order?'

'Of course,' Remus accepted some papers from the headmaster and put them in his pocket, very carefully not showing their contents to Sirius.

'I hope you will manage to communicate and cooperate with the teachers at school,' Dumbledore added. 'Remember that we're all on the same side in this conflict.' Snape fought to not smirk at that. He wished the headmaster gave him the task of scheduling the patrols – he would have taken great pleasure in making sure that things went interesting. A thought stroke him and he filed it away to discuss with the headmaster later.

'Did you also figure out the way to transport us here quickly in case of need?' Bill Weasley asked. They have been thinking before that some device would be needed, in case of danger, that would allow the other members of the Order to appearate at Hogwarts fast.

'Not yet, but I think I should be able to create a Port-key that we could control in such a manner that it would call people to a place, rather than take them there. Professor Flitwick is doing his best to perfect the spell.'

After a few more questions, the members of the Order filed out of the office to leave Hogwarts, while Snape moved to stand closer to Dumbledore.

'Has he contacted you yet?' Dumbledore asked no later than the echo of the footsteps died.

'No, but I don't expect him to unless he absolutely has to. Besides not trusting me, he knows that the best tactics is to minimize contact to not get discovered,' Snape said coldly. 'But I got an idea,' he added with a sly tone.

'Which I fear I will not like, but please, tell me.'

'Let Black get what he wants.'

'Excuse me?'

'Don't play blind. Black wants to get some revenge on Kruspe. Let him have a try or three – with enough tries they will hopefully both land in the hospital wing, with a bit of luck unconscious also…' Snape trailed off. Dumbledore would surely be able to follow his trail of thought.

'And you think that he would not be prepared? No Severus, as tempting as it is, I will not risk Sirius' life like that.'

'Kruspe will not kill him,' Snape said flatly. 'If he wanted to, he would have done that before the wedding. Or else – he knows that he cannot allow himself to murder somebody this close to you because he will not escape questions.'

'Self-defence?'

'There are ways of defending oneself without killing the attacker,' Snape retorted, expecting such a suggestion mainly because he's thought about it for a long time when Black was still too annoying to stand. 'Think about it. After two months you can let me do the schedule and everybody will just hate me more, but we might get the spy out of the game.'

'I don't-'

'Just think about it. And keep in mind that there is nobody I could find to make responsible for the leak. Nobody. Our only chance is in an unhappy accident and I'm giving you an idea here.' With those words, Snape left the office, a smirk on his face when Dumbledore couldn't see. For him it would be a win-win situation: either he gets rid of the spy or of Black.

})i({

The first day of classes passed without much excitement and it was with some relief that Ciel found himself in the private apartment of his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He has never been to a teacher's private rooms and he didn't know what to expect, but a two room apartment was certainly nothing excessive. As soon as he knocked, the door opened and he was greeted by his uncle and invited inside.

'Would you like a tea?' Cain asked, turning to his guest as the door closed behind them. 'Take a seat please,' he added pointing towards the set of two armchairs and a small tea table located in front of the fireplace. He levitated away a book that was laying on the table.

'Sebastian will make the tea,' Ciel commanded and his cat became a butler.

'As you wish. Did you have a good summer with Lady Elizabeth?' Cain asked, sitting down on the armchair opposite to Ciel.

'It was pleasant enough,' Ciel said curtly. 'Did you enjoy your honey-moon?'

'Quite,' Cain replied with a smirk. 'But I'm sure you don't want to hear any details.'

'Indeed. I have come here to discuss your tactics.'

'It will be a short discussion then. I have not received any orders yet, so I will simply be as sadistic a teacher as possible.' Ciel winced slightly at this. 'I have, however, been informed that the members of the Order of the Phoenix will be present at school at nights, patrolling the corridors,' Cain continued, ignoring Ciel's reaction.

'Must uncomfortable,' was the best answer that Ciel found to that piece of information.

'I suppose this will cause a bit of tension, yes.' Ciel looked at the other man carefully. Was there a shadow of a smirk on his face?

'Tension that you will not strain to increase, I assume,' he said carefully. A definite smirk, which didn't really go together with the answer that Ciel got:

'I will not provoke any problematic situations, you don't need to worry.'

'Good,' Ciel said, although he doubted the sincerity of the claim.

'You don't need to tell me how to keep a low profile,' Cain reminded him. 'What about your plans? If you want my help I need to know what you're going to do.'

'My plan is to find the Dark Lord and kill him,' Ciel spoke harshly. Sebastian served them a perfect tea and there was a pause in the conversation as they tasted it.

'That is either very ambitious or very foolish, I have not decided,' Cain said finally, his voice calm and cold. 'How do you plan to go about that?'

'I need you to tell me where is the Dark Lord.'

'I told you that I'll have no direct contact with him, which I prefer in any case.'

'Find out. You said you'd help me,' Ciel demanded, scolding himself for sounding a bit like a spoiled child. Cain smirked slightly.

'Give me some time then and I'll try to coax the answer from Snape,' he said with the smallest hint of amusement in his voice. 'It won't be easy to find excuses to talk with him, but with any luck we'll get some orders and will be forced to work together.'

'Will you follow your orders?'

'Unless they tell me to hurt you, yes.' There was brutal honesty in the reply and the expression of the Deatheater spy. Ciel looked at him carefully, hoping that he was doing the right thing to trust him so entirely. He wanted to ask why the man became a Deatheater, what it was that the Dark Lord has promised him. What was it that his father has promised him?

})i({

'My Lord.'

'Raise, my friend. I think now it is time that I assign you and Cain your first task.'

The silence stretched so long that Snape thought he'd snap.

'Bring me Harry Potter. Without the little hero, the morale of the resistance will melt like ice.' The sound that came after was probably supposed to be laughter, but it sounded more scary than anything. 'And do remember my previous instructions.'


	4. Counterproductive

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Counter-productive**

Severus Snape was torn. He needed to relay the orders to his "fellow Deatheater", but he knew that the man would set about to fulfil the task. He needed to tell Dumbledore and he needed to protect Harry Potter at all cost.

Was it the end of his life now? Was he going to die in suffering because Kruspe will report that he prevented him from fulfilling the task?

Suppressing a sigh, Snape pulled his outer robe on and went out for his patrol, which he would share with none other than his new nemesis. What were the chances that they would not meet?

With a silent wish that Dumbledore would agree on his idea about letting Black and Kruspe meet "by accident", Snape turned the corner, going from one dark corridor to another. Despite his worst fears, the corridors were empty and hope started to form in his heart.

'Why, hello,' said a cold voice just behind him and it took all of Snape's self control to not jump out of his skin.

'I'll kill you,' he hissed, turning to the intruder, who wore a small smirk. Snape wished that he could crush that smirk against the wall.

'That would certainly cause some inconveniences,' Cain Kruspe said smugly and cast a silencing spell around them. 'Tell me then? What are the news my friend?' he said the last work with a trace of irony.

Snape was tempted to say that there were no news, but he was afraid that it was part of his test and that Kruspe in fact knew everything. The man was already suspecting him of treason and he would have to work hard to erase this suspicion before it became something more.

'The Dark Lord has given us a task,' he said without any preamble, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. 'We are supposed to deliver Harry Potter to him,' he added without waiting for the sarcastic reply that he was sure would be coming. An expression of surprise flickered on Kruspe's face and Snape felt a spark of hope that maybe the spy was not used to inflicting pain upon kids and would have problems with that task.

'That is certainly a difficult job,' Kruspe said slowly, his expression emotionless again. 'Do you have any idea?'

'Are you crazy? Potter is what Dumbledore protects most! There are protective spells on the boy that even he doesn't know about and his every step is known to the headmaster,' Snape exclaimed, hoping to deter the other one.

'Protective spells you say?' Kruspe asked and Snape would have kicked himself if he could. 'Do you know what they are?'

'Not fully. I'm just aware that there are some.'

'Dumbledore seems to trust you awfully,' Kruspe noted with a hint of suspicion in his voice. Snape schooled his expression into smugness.

'That is why I am so precious to the Dark Lord,' he said, feeling that he needed to remind Kruspe that he was not expendable.

'I suppose some no-contact method should work. Making a Port-key that would transport Potter to the Dark Lord?' Snape fought to hide his panic – was it really that easy to come up with an idea like that? Was he really forced to blow Kruspe's cover without any subtlety?

'And you'd send it to him? Way to go to keep secrecy.'

'Of course not. Sometimes I wonder how you managed to spy for the Dark Lord for so long, since you obviously lack the brain,' Kruspe hissed and, in a moment of blind fury, Snape pinned him to the wall.

It was maybe a good coincidence that two members of the Order went past at that particular moment. Kruspe cancelled the silencing spell.

'Let go of me!' he said in a sort of scared voice. He was surely an accomplished actor.

'Never say that again,' Snape hissed before letting go of his fellow teacher just as Tonks and Lupin neared them, screaming at Snape to let go of the teacher. He cursed – there was no better way to introduce Kruspe as a friendly person than by having him attack him.

'What the hell are you doing, Snape?' Lupin asked and then eyed Kruspe and almost took a step back, obviously recognizing him.

'It's not your business, werewolf,' Snape hissed, thinking that giving Kruspe some information about the members of the Order would maybe silence his suspicions. Lupin was obviously not happy about the sentence and he turned to Kruspe.

'I believe we haven't met before,' he said in a bit of a strained tone.

'I believe so too,' Kruspe replied, his face a perfect picture of friendliness. 'My name's Cain Kruspe, I teach here,' he said, extending the hand that Lupin took with the slightest hesitation only.

'I'm Remus Lupin-'

'A member of the Order of the Phoenix, is that correct?' Kruspe didn't let him finish, seemingly rather eager to meet him. 'I have heard a lot about the Order.'

'Only good things I suppose,' Tonks interjected and Kruspe turned to her, his face lit up by a truly charming smile. Despite himself, Snape was impressed – he never managed to pull this kind of act through. 'I'm Nymphedora Tonks, Professor Kruspe.'

'Please, just call me Cain,' he said immediately, that charming smile still on his face. 'This title still makes me feel old.' Tonks laughed shortly, just like that enchanted by the man.

'In that case, please call me Tonks – that's how my friends call me,' she said.

'With pleasure-'

'Shouldn't you be patrolling the corridors?' Snape growled and the expressions on Kruspe's and Tonks' faces faded. Lupin looked almost relieved.

'Well then, see you next week,' Tonks said with a slightly flirty wink and they said their good byes. As soon as the two turned the corner, the smile faded from Kruspe's face and he put the silencing spell back up.

'This is most counter-productive,' he said coldly.

'Wait till she finds out who you are, she's Black's cousin,' Snape replied in the equally cold tone.

'About that,' Kruspe said, turning to face him again. 'Just how much information do you give to our precious headmaster to satisfy his curiosity?'

'Nothing that would put the Dark Lord's operations in jeopardy,' Snape lied smoothly.

'And he still trusts you, even though all his efforts to protect people are for nothing?'

'Dumbledore is only concerned with Potter,' Snape said. It was partly true, but he said it to scare the other one, to make him overly cautious.

'Is that so? That certainly opens new possibilities.'

'What possibilities?' Snape asked immediately, but he only got a satisfied smirk as a reply. Has he said too much?

'Well then, Severus. I shall be seeing you next week and until then if you would be so kind to find out what are the protective spells that Dumbledore has put on Harry Potter.'

'He will get suspicious if I ask.'

'Then don't ask. Find out.'

Snape wanted to tell the other that he wasn't going to order him around just like that, but Kruspe was already walking away, as though nothing happened, to patrol the corridors of the sleeping castle. Then of course, the Dark Lord meant for such a situation to happen. Kruspe was supposed to be the brain of the operation and Snape was supposed to be his cover and protection. His "most trusted Deatheater"… right…

'I'll show you counter-productive,' he hissed when he was sure that Kruspe couldn't hear him. He reassumed his own patrol as though nothing happened, but in his head he was already formulating a message to Dumbledore. He would have liked to go immediately, knowing that there was no need for the patrols, but he was afraid that Kruspe might spy on him.

He needed an excuse to meet the headmaster, just in case Kruspe had ways to monitor letters. He needed to tell the headmaster to block Port-key usage within the grounds of Hogwarts. Just in case.

As he figured out that the Floo network would be the easiest way to talk with the headmaster, he started thinking about the task at hand. The Dark Lord certainly set them a difficult assignment, which was both worrying and reassuring. It meant that he truly trusted Snape (or so Snape hoped), but it also meant that Snape would now have to tread very carefully to stay alive.

Maybe he should just blow his cover and die? He'd be free from this mess… - he thought with some pessimism, but immediately remembered the promise he made. The promise that drove him on every day for fifteen years now. He couldn't leave the play just yet, he needed to play his role till the end.

Still – it would be a hard time for him. He was used to playing the role of a spy in front of the Dark Lord, but he only met him a couple of times a month in the worst case. Now he had to take care of his moves every single day, every hour.


	5. Detention

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Detention**

Coming into the dormitory, Ciel flung a piece of paper into the fireplace, grateful to be the first one to arrive after the dinner. He didn't need anybody to see what he just did and ask what was on the paper. Even in Slytherin there were people who didn't know when to stop asking, especially the first-years.

He found a note on his pillow in the morning, a note asking him to delay Harry Potter's arrival for the morning lesson. There was no signature, but he didn't need one. He decided to do as he was asked and afterwards ask questions and complain about the delivery of the note.

He had Sebastian misplace Potter's Defence Against the Dark Arts book, ensuring that the boy set his friends to go without him and was late himself – the note specified that Potter should be alone for the detention.

'I wonder what he's planning,' he whispered to his cat as the door opened. The cat looked at him and meowed. It didn't really matter, Ciel thought, as long as he was working towards finding the location of the Dark Lord. Sebastian has been utterly useless in that case, saying that there was at least seven places where he felt the soul of the Dark Lord, one of them being inside Harry Potter, which was surely wrong.

Consequently, Ciel had to wait for that information from somebody else and Sebastian discouraged kidnapping Severus Snape and torturing the information out of him for some reason. He didn't want to ask his grandfather who should not suspect anything about his plans to not endanger himself.

In the meantime, he busied himself in wondering what he would do once he got to know the location of his enemy. He needed a very good plan because chance was that he will have to act with very little notice.

He also ordered Sebastian to find out why he was not able to detect the Dark Lord's soul properly and so his cat took the opportunity of open doors to the common room to ran off to the library.

With any luck, Ciel would have his answer very fast.

})i({

Dumbledore looked at Snape.

'You do realize that you're asking me to trash the most promising project that we have for fast transport of the Order to Hogwarts, don't you?' he asked seriously.

'You do realize that he was serious in his idea, don't you?' Snape retorted, a hint of irritation in his voice. 'And it's really brilliant in its simplicity: drop around random objects until one attracts the attention of Potter. Then Potter goes to pick up whatever it is and pouf! – he's with the Dark Lord. No witnesses, no links, no suspicions. Except that the bad Snape is really a Deatheater and not the spy of Dumbledore in the enemy's camp.'

'What about all the other objects? All the children who would suffer because of that?' Dumbledore asked, ignoring the bitter tone of his faithful spy.

'Do you think he cares? Dumbledore – wake up finally!' Snape was getting frustrated. 'Deatheaters are not merciful, they are not pretty people enchanted by the Dark Lord, realizing their mistake as soon as he tells them to harm an innocent person!'

Silence fell between them as Dumbledore looked away, unwilling to meet Snape's eyes for a moment. Of course he knew that many Deatheaters were truly cruel and evil people but it was hard to believe that this particular, polite and friendly man was one of them.

'Do not tell me that you fell victim to his charm as well,' Snape hissed, making Dumbledore look back at him. 'I have seen him charm Tonks and even now, when she knows who he is, she refuses to blame him for what he did, somehow blaming Black. Or at least saying that there are no innocents in that case.'

Sure, he did most awful things to Sirius, but it was also true that Sirius attacked him. Dumbledore shook his head with a sigh. If only Sirius had been more reasonable.

'You are right, of course,' he said finally, even though he wasn't fully convinced. 'I will block the Port-key project.'

'Do it in two weeks. Kruspe will not manage to do anything until then and otherwise it'll seem suspicious.'

'Severus, I'm starting to think that you're taking too much decisions here,' Dumbledore commented, his turn to get irritated. He liked to believe that he was the leader, but recently it seemed that Snape was telling him to do more than doing what he was told.

'Forgive me for being cautious when my life is at stake,' Snape hissed with venom. 'Worry about Potter instead. From what I gathered from the conversations between the Slytherin students, he managed to get himself a detention for being late to Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

'We cannot allow that, Severus!' Dumbledore exclaimed, jumping up from his chair, ready to barge out of the office and cancel the detention.

'You can hardly get involved without raising suspicions, Dumbledore,' Snape said calmly. 'And it's not like he can magic Potter away to the Dark Lord, he doesn't know where he is.' It was certainly an interesting piece of information, but there were more pressing matters.

'I have to warn Harry to not do anything that would provoke such a situation again,' Dumbledore said, sitting down on his chair.

'Given the history of that notorious idiot, it's the last thing you should do. He's just like his annoying godfather and he'll go on an investigation of his own that will surely expose my treachery to the Dark Lord and end this adventure in the most unpleasant way,' Snape said through gritted teeth. 'I can just imagine Kruspe realizing that his cover is blown and simply kidnapping Potter on the spot.'

'You said he wouldn't know where to go.'

'He surely has a way to contact the Dark Lord in emergency.'

})i({

Annoyed and discouraged, Harry Potter made his way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. He was sure that something was wrong because he knew he took the book with him to breakfast, not wanting to risk being late to the class. Professor Kruspe could give Snape a run for his money in the "most cruel professor" competition, even though his cruelty was somehow more subtle. He never said bad things about the students, but he started this year with another test on what they had remembered from the previous years.

When Ron complained that he knew what they knew, Kruspe calmly explained that he has been a student too, one day and was perfectly aware of how much a student head got empty during the two months of holidays. He was right of course – both Harry and Ron, not daring to cheat and risk a permanent detention, gave him nearly blank sheets of paper.

How it was possible that his book was back in his dormitory in the morning Harry didn't know, but it was pointless to try and explain himself to this particular teacher.

He knocked on the door, disappointed to hear "come in" almost immediately. Having no choice, he opened the door and walked into the classroom, where his teacher was sitting behind the desk, watching him come in. A weird feeling overcame him as he closed the door behind himself, but he shook it away.

'Because you have obviously forgotten what I taught you last year, your detention today will be to learn,' his professor said in a tone that didn't allow any objections. Not that Harry was objecting to that kind of detention – he was fearing the worst and learning didn't seem like such a bad thing.

'Is there anything particular that you would like me to learn, Professor?' he asked politely, hoping that he will not say anything stupid and change the detention to something much worse.

'I have marked in the book what is of the most importance from last year. You will make notes tonight and next week I expect an essay on the matters that are discussed in those chapters,' professor Kruspe said, handing him over a book. Harry's joy at the easy detention waned when he noticed that almost half of the book was marked.

'Professor, it will take me hours to finish this,' he commented and the teacher glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

'Then you better start fast to make sure you can be in your common room before the curfew,' he said simply and turned to whatever he was doing when Harry got in.

With a sigh, Harry settled at one of the desks, close to the wall of books that graced the classroom since last year, and set to work.

Minutes ticked past slowly and the silence was only punctured by the scratching of Harry's quill on the parchment. Occasionally, Harry glanced up but his teacher seemed to be ignoring him completely. He almost jumped out of his skin when the man moved to stand up.

'Please ignore me, I just need to pick up another book,' the teacher said with a small chuckle and Harry went back to work, doing his best to not look at him as he went to the bookshelf that was just next to Harry. By the sounds, Harry could tell that his teacher picked up a book and then he heard him blow away the dust… That went flying straight at Harry, making him cough.

'Ah, I'm sorry,' professor Kruspe said when Harry stopped coughing. 'I'm afraid it's not a book I use often,' he added and went back to his desk before Harry could read the title.

He went back to work but a weird feeling made him freeze. It was almost as though somebody was trying to see into his mind. He looked up to see his teacher looking straight at him with unseeing eyes, as though hypnotised.

'Is there anything wrong, Professor?' he asked, hoping to get some sort of reaction. Kruspe shook his head slightly and looked at him for real.

'You were saying something, Potter?' he asked. 'I must have spaced out for a moment here.'

'Yeah, you certainly did,' Harry muttered, smiling and saying loud: 'It's nothing, just so silent here.'

'Indeed, it is very silent in this school,' his teacher agreed with a ghost of a smile. 'Almost creepy, isn't it? How silent it becomes when one is alone,' he added, sounding as he spoke to himself more than to Harry.

Weirdo, Harry thought and looked back at the book he was reading. He wasn't even halfway through. With a sigh, he went back to work when a sudden flash of pain made him gasp and let go of the quill.

'Are you alright?' his professor asked immediately with a tone that wasn't completely concerned, but Harry couldn't guess what it was supposed to express.

'Perfectly fine, sir,' Harry gasped as the subsiding pain cleared his senses. He somehow didn't want to tell the man anything, not when he saw how his professor was watching him with narrowed eyes.

'I think you've done enough, Potter. If your essay next week is satisfactory then you have fulfilled your detention. If I'm not satisfied with what you'll write, you will come back here to finish.'

'Thank you, professor,' Harry said, not sure why he was feeling grateful and left the classroom as fast as he could. As he closed the door behind him, a weird sensation tingled in the tips of his fingers and his vision blurred for a moment. Blinking, he realized that he forgot his quill, but he was definitely not going back to that classroom. Not alone at least.


	6. A torn soul

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: A torn soul**

Ciel was sitting in the library, reading about the techniques of perfecting the magical focus without the wand, when his cat came to him and brushed against his leg with a meow.

'No animals in the library!' yelled Madame Pince who seemed to have the hearing of a cat. With a glare at his cat, Ciel got up, put away the book and left the library. He then followed his cat, who seemed to have a very good idea on where to go. Sometimes it was better not to argue.

They avoided most of the students, which was not difficult considering that it was almost dinner time and most were either in the Great Hall or heading there and the library was not on the way. The cat led him straight to the corridor where Room of Requirement was and Ciel wished for a place to discuss with Sebastian in peace.

A door appeared and he went in, letting the cat in as well, to discover that the room was in fact a study, very similar to that of his father. He closed the door and moved to sit at the desk, as he saw his father sit many times.

His elegant butler brought him a cup of delicious tea.

'So tell me what you have found, Sebastian,' Ciel said after taking a sip, sitting back in the comfortable chair.

'Well then, my Lord, I have found a reason of my failure with the Dark Lord's soul,' the demon stated, getting all of Ciel's attention. 'It is, in fact, fractured.'

'Fractured?' Ciel repeated, not having expected that as an explanation.

'Indeed,' Sebastian moved to the bookshelf, which produced an old looking book. 'The Dark Lord has found out that, if he kills somebody, the trauma for his soul is such that he can tear a part of it away and place it in an inanimate object.' Ciel looked at the pictures in the book that Sebastian gave him. They were very old and very grotesque.

'Horcrux…' he muttered. 'I think I heard this word before. But does that mean that he cannot be killed?'

'Not until there is any Horcrux in existence,' Sebastian confirmed with a small bow. Ciel pushed the book away and leaned back in the chair, looking at his butler.

'But you can of course find them and destroy them, right?' he asked, eyes narrowing when the butler didn't reply immediately. 'Can't you?'

'It is difficult to say, my Lord,' the demon said finally. 'I will have to acquire one and see. I have never had any dealings with the wizarding world and certainly not with this kind of dark magic.'

'I didn't know there is something impossible for you,' Ciel mocked, feeling a certain satisfaction at the discovery.

'Certainly not impossible,' the demon retorted. 'In the worst case I can burn them in the flames of hell, but I don't think even that should be required.'

'Good then, have you located all the Horcruxes?' Ciel asked, moving on to the next issue, satisfied that his demon would get rid of all the problems. 'What are they?'

'Yes, I have located them. I do not know what is the form of the physical object, but I know where to find it. With one exception, which is where another problem comes to play,' Sebastian said slowly.

'I don't like when you say "problem",' Ciel commented.

'Forgive me, my Lord. The ensuing issue is that to my best knowledge Harry Potter is a Horcrux,' Sebastian said. Ciel leaned forward, looking at him.

'Are you telling me that we have to kill Potter?'

'Yes.'

'Alright,' he said, seeing the shock on Sebastian's face. Shock that Sebastian quickly covered with his usual, calm and emotionless expression. A slow smile followed.

'My Lord is certainly determined to attain his goals,' he said, his voice tinged with amusement. Ciel waved his hand dismissively.

'If such is the case Harry Potter has to die anyway, no matter who will aim to kill the Dark Lord,' he said coldly. 'But this I have to discuss with Cain first. I believe he might have some plans concerning that annoying student. Start by the other Horcruxes.'

'Yes, my Lord.'

})i({

Sirius Black appearated in Hogsmeade, together with three other members of the Order. It was the closest they could appearate to Hogwarts and they simply had to walk their way to the castle, especially since Dumbledore announced that the Port-key project was cancelled and they were starting from the scratch.

'At least it stopped raining,' Bill Wealsey said, but Sirius barely acknowledged the statement with a nod. As every week he was torn between the desire for the patrol to pass without any excitement and to wipe the floor with the face of Angie's husband. He knew, of course, that the schedule was made so that he would never meet him, but hope died last.

'Don't say that just yet. We still have to get to the castle,' Fleur, Bill's wife, muttered, straightening her jacket. Lucky Bill who has gotten the love of his life as his wife… He turned away from her and caught a flash of blood-red with the corner of his eye. Could it be?

'Sirius, where are you going?' Bill asked and Sirius realized that he turned to the direction where he noticed the red. He looked back in that direction, then back at Bill and the others. Quickly – he needed an excuse!

'I'll just, I'll just go to the chocolate shop, I promised I'd buy Harry something,' he said and left, despite their shouting that there was really no time for shopping right now.

He hoped they would not follow, but then – he didn't really care. His brain was telling him that it was just an illusion, that it couldn't have been her, that she was away in London.

Yet he still went.

He turned the corner to where the sweets shop was and stood face to face with Angelina, who looked absolutely shocked to see him. Even more shocked than he was, in fact, but as his shock wore of and he smiled at her, she pursed her lips and turned to go away. Feeling as though the ground was falling away from his feet, he did the only thing he could think of.

'Angie, wait!' he exclaimed, grabbing her wrist, which stopped her successfully, although she turned to him with an angry expression twisting her beautiful face. 'Angie, please, I-'

'You will let her go and leave,' said a cold voice behind him, threat singing clearly in the words, as a wand poked into his back. When he failed to do as he was told, the wand poked harder and Angie pulled her hand to free her wrist. Having not much choice, he let go of her hand.

'Angie, please listen to me. I love you,' he spoke, ignoring the man who came to stand next to her and took her hand. Even as fury boiled inside him, he looked only at her, willing himself to not loose control.

'It's not Angie anymore, it hasn't been for years,' she said coldly. 'You killed Angie when you ran away from her,' she added, her words tearing his heart apart.

'I had no choice, Angie, Angelina… I couldn't have done what they asked of me. But I have always loved you more than anything in my life,' he whispered painfully.

'This is obviously a lie. You didn't love me enough to do what was needed,' she replied, voice cold like ice.

'Do you know what they asked of me? Do you know what was it that your father demanded?' he asked, hoping against hope that she hadn't known, that she would forgive him. Her silence, however, was enough of an answer. Had she expected him to become a Deatheater?

'If you loved me, Mr. Black, you would let me be. You would realize that I do not want to be with you and that none of this was serious. If you truly loved me, you would be happy for my happiness, rather than trying to destroy my wedding,' she said quietly, but forcefully. 'If you loved me you would realize that I do not love you. I never did and never will.'

He staggered back, as though punched in the stomach and his vision blurred as tears welled in his eyes. As through a layer of cotton, he heard the other three members of the Order finally catch up with him, but as he blinked the tears away, he saw clearly that disgusting man wrap an arm around Angelina's shoulders and lead her away slowly. And she went – without sparing as much as a glance at him.

His knees gave under him as he howled in pain. Hate blinded him.

'Protego!' Angelina's voice echoed in Sirius' head and he blinked, realizing that he had moved. He was standing with his wand out, pointing at Cain Kruspe, who was laying on the ground, blood pooling around his midsection. Angelina also had her wand out, pointing it in Sirius' direction, an expression of terror on her face.

'Oh my…' Sirius staggered back, dropping his wand. I killed him, he thought numbly.

'Sirius!' he heard behind him. Angelina, probably realizing that he regained control over himself, turned to her husband, dropping to her knees next to him. Sirius could see with some surreal, crystal clearness as he coughed, a splatter of blood colouring his pale face. He couldn't tear his eyes away from them, sick satisfaction mixing with fear.

Somebody rushed past him and he could see Fleur, who was rather accomplished as a healer, run to help Angelina. The latter was at the point of crying and her hands were visibly shaking.

'I think you better go home, Sirius,' Bill said behind him, voice quiet and very serious. 'I'll let Dumbledore know that he has to manage this night on his own.' Fleur looked in their direction, her face a stone mask.

'Take him away,' she said, her voice as cold as her face.


	7. The grim consequences

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: The grim consequences**

Wednesday morning brought wind, rain and shocking news. Already at breakfast, Harry thought that something was wrong. As the mail arrived he noticed commotion at the Slytherin table and Ciel Phantomhive left the room with a pale face. Or – paler than usual. He didn't have much time to think about it, though, because he was definitely not going to be late for his class again. It already happened twice and he was more scared of another detention than annoyed at them.

Today, however, he had his book – he made sure of that – and he went with Ron and Hermione to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, chatting happily.

'So your book is here today?' Hermione mocked him. She didn't believe that he didn't do it on purpose until he described her the detention and she decided that even Harry wouldn't inflict such creepiness upon himself on purpose.

'Thankfully,' Harry muttered. 'I have to do the Potions homework today, because tomorrow we have the Quiddich practice and I can't really miss that, can I?

'You and your priorities,' she muttered, shaking her head. In the meantime, they reached the classroom and got in, wondering why the professor wasn't there yet. He was usually waiting for them, reading a book.

'Maybe he's sick?' Ron whispered hopefully. 'Maybe we'll have some free time,' he added and Harry nodded – it would be very nice.

Just then the doors to the classroom opened with a bang and all the students turned to see Snape enter the room, his face set in a grim expression, circles around his eyes as though he hasn't slept during the night.

'Professor Kruspe is unable to teach for the time being,' Snape hissed. 'And I have been asked to take over your lesson as I am the only teacher who is free during this period,' he added and Harry wondered why he wasn't happier about getting to teach his favourite subject for a while.

'What happened to Professor Kruspe?' Draco Malfoy asked the question that was on the minds of almost every other student in the classroom. An expression that Harry could not interpret twisted Snape's features for a moment.

'He has been attacked and is now in the hospital in what apparently is a life-threatening state,' he said tonelessly, his statement earning gasps of almost every student. He raised his hand before anybody else could ask a question. 'I am sure that when something about his state is known the headmaster will inform you all officially. Until then we will carry on with the lesson today.'

})i({

'What the hell are you playing at, Dumbledore?' the Duke Durless exclaimed as soon as he entered the headmaster office. Dumbledore wanted to reply, but the furious man didn't give him time. 'Not only you are keeping a mass murderer hidden, but also allowing him to roam free and kill at his whim?' Dumbledore felt a cold shudder go down his spine at those words.

'Is he dead?' he asked, holding his breath as he waited for the answer. Duke Durless dropped onto the seat in front of him without energy and Dumbledore felt his blood grow cold.

'Not yet,' the Duke finally said heavily. 'But he's not far and they don't know if he'll pull through.'

'I am incredibly sorry,' Dumbledore said, speaking from the depth of his heart. 'If there is anything that I can do…' he trailed off realizing his mistake as a murderous gleam reflected in the eyes of his guest.

'Yes, in fact you can. You can give me that murderer, that coward and let me show him what I think about him,' he said through gritted teeth. 'First he runs off just before the wedding, then he comes and tries to kill my son-in-law!'

'Believe me, I have not seen that possibility.'

'I don't care what you have seen or not, Dumbledore. Angelina tells me that this murderer was supposed to patrol the corridors of your school. Is that true?'

'Yes, it is true,' Dumbledore said, wondering if he should have mentioned to his teachers to keep the security measures at Hogwarts a secret.

'Are you insane?' the Duke asked rhetorically. 'You are allowing a murderer inside a castle full of defenceless children? Are you out of your mind Dumbledore?'

'Sirius hasn't killed those people, fifteen years ago,' Dumbledore said, seeing no other option. Sirius had put himself and all of them who were helping him into deep problems by not only revealing his presence, but also by attacking a member of one of the most powerful wizarding families.

'What?'

With a heavy heart, Dumbledore told Durless the whole story, about how Sirius was not the secret keeper of the Potters, but Peter Pettigrew who was secretly a Deatheater. How Sirius Black was mad with regret for agreeing to this deal and how Pettigrew faked his own death, taking tens of Muggles with him.

When he finished talking silence fell between them and he awaited the reaction of his guest.

'And a proof? Do you really expect me to believe that wild story Dumbledore?' the Duke said.

'It is the truth,' Dumbledore protested, all hope now gone.

'Well then, he might not have killed those Muggles, but he definitely tried to kill my son-in-law last night and I will not forgive him that. You have a choice now – either you give him to me and I kill him or I go to the Ministry and the Dementors get him,' the Duke said, getting up and heading towards the door.

'Please give me some time,' Dumbledore asked.

'I give you a week or until Cain dies. Whichever happens first.' With that he was gone and Dumbledore sat back with a sigh. He needed to think something up and fast.

})i({

With a grim expression, Dumbledore entered the house at 12 Grimmauld Place. Molly and Arthur Weasley, who had been keeping watch over Sirius Black, looked up at him, their expressions sombre.

'Albus, what happened?' Arthur asked, getting up. 'Bill only said that Sirius attacked somebody, that he killed.' Dumbledore sighed.

'I wasn't there, I think Bill's relation is worth more than mine and I have talked with him already, as soon as he came to Hogwarts to tell me that they weren't going to patrol the corridors.'

'Who…' Molly took a deep breath. 'Who did Sirius kill?'

'Cain Kruspe, a teacher at my school. But I'm not sure if he's dead. The Duke Durless, Cain's father-in-law came to me just an hour ago and then Cain was still alive although the diagnosis is not optimistic.'

'Oh dear,' Molly gasped, tears welling in her eyes. 'Why would he do such a thing?'

'I need to talk with Sirius now, I'm afraid he's been recognized and it's only a matter of time until somebody comes for him,' Dumbledore said, making Molly sob.

'We locked him up, even though it felt horrible to do,' Arthur said, leading him further in the house. 'Bill said that it might be better and he looked too serious for me to try and argue with him.'

'I'm sure Sirius understands that,' Dumbledore said and went into the room that Arthur indicated, asking him to lock the door and go back to the kitchen. He then turned to see Sirius, sitting in the corner, knees drawn, head in his hands.

'Sirius?' he said softly and the man moved to look at him, a trace of madness in his eyes.

'Is he alive?' he asked in a strangled voice.

'For now, yes,' Dumbledore answered. 'And I hope he survives, but in either case, you have caused quite a mess.'

'I don't even remember what happened, Albus. I was so… so blinded by my hate for him,' Sirius spoke quietly. 'One moment I see them walking away from me and next I hear Angie's voice, so terrified, so desperate. And when I look I'm pointing a wand and him. I didn't mean to kill. I think.'

Dumbledore was silent for a long moment, not sure what to say. He finally decided to be honest as the situation was serious enough to deserve honesty.

'There is no way to defend you in this case, Sirius. You hit him in the back with your spell, whatever it was.'

'It wasn't a spell,' Sirius interrupted him. 'Bill checked my wand and it was just… Uncontrolled magic. Just my deepest desire,' he barely whispered the last words, as though terrified at what they meant.

'I need you to focus now, Sirius,' Dumbledore said, becoming more business like. 'I need you to snap out of it and pull yourself together because whether Cain dies or not we are in deep trouble.'

'You should let them kill me. I deserve that,' Sirius said tonelessly, scaring Dumbledore more than anything else he heard in the last hours.

'You want to die? That easy?' he asked, getting angry. 'What about the people that count on you? What about Remus and Harry? Will you just abandon them like that?'

'I am obviously dangerous Dumbledore. What if I loose it again? What if I lash out at somebody again?'

'Do you hate somebody as much as you do hate Cain?' Sirius looked away.

'No. Not even Snape.'

'Well then I think we're on the safe side here,' Dumbledore commented. 'But you are not safe here anymore.'

'Angie told her father, of course.'

'She could hardly do anything else, even if she wanted to keep it quiet. And the Duke is not one of the most forgiving people. He came to my office and told me that either I give you to him or he goes to the Ministry.'

'What do you want me to do then?' Sirius asked quietly.

'You have to escape.'

})i({

By dinner time the whole school was shaking with gossip. Who had attacked their teacher? Why? Where? Has there been an attack in school? Has he been out? What was he doing out there? – every student had their own version, each more dramatic than the other.

'Dumbledore wasn't there for lunch, do you think he was in the hospital?' Harry mused, wondering where else the headmaster could have been. They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, which was also buzzing with gossip. The most popular theory was that it was a Deatheater attack, that the followers of You-Know-Who would now target and lure out teachers one by one.

'I suppose, it's only nice to go, no?' Hermione answered, looking up from the Defence Against the Dark Arts book. Snape had given them a ton of homework with a "I should not disappoint your regular teacher" and a smile that said "if he survives".

Before Harry could continue their discussion, an owl knocked on the window and, recognizing it as Sirius' owl, Harry opened the window immediately. He took the note and the owl left, not waiting for a reply.

'What does he say?' Ron asked immediately, also recognizing the owl. Harry opened the note and read it. He read it once, twice.

'Harry?' Hermione asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Harry simply gave her the note. 'I'm so sorry Harry, I have to go. I hope to see you soon,' she read out loud

'What does that mean?' Ron asked. Harry shrugged but then a horrible thought bubbled in his head.

'He's running away?' Hermione muttered and her eyes widened. 'You don't think that…' she trailed off, pressing her hand against her mouth. Ron looked from one to the other, demanding explanation but neither was able to speak.

Last night was Sirius' time to patrol the corridors.

})i({

'I want his head!' Voldemort hissed furiously.

'My Lord, I don't think-' Snape tried to reason, even though he knew it was a lost case. When the Dark Lord got like this one could only follow the orders and hope to stay alive.

'I want his head! I will not have such a coward and family traitor destroying my elaborate plan!' Voldemort raged on, his fury upsetting Nagini.

'Yes, my Lord.' Snape said, wanting to be out of there as soon as possible.


	8. The show must go on

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The show must go on**

Friday brought a sensational article in the Daily Prophet: an interview with Duke Durless who stated, loud and clear, that it was Sirius Black who has attacked his son-in-law and that he was being employed by Dumbledore at that point. He said that, when he found out and demanded justice, Black had miraculously escaped from wherever he was hiding. The interview finished with a promise of an award from the Duke, to whomever would deliver him Sirius Black – dead or alive.

Reading that was like a punch in the face to Harry, who skipped all the lessons that day, unable to cope. Finally, Hermione pushed him out of the common room to talk with the headmaster and ask him if the interview was even true or if it was just some sensation seeking on the part of either the Duke or the Daily Prophet.

So Harry went and asked and staggered back when he got the reply.

'Yes Harry, it is true,' Dumbledore said, looking infinitely tired and thus maybe not noticing Harry's dismay. 'Take a seat and I'll tell you everything. But if I loose track please forgive me because I'm very tired.'

'Because of what happened?'

'Because your godfather escaping had one consequence that I haven't foreseen: it has made Grimmauld Place a bad place to keep the headquarters.'

'Oh,' was the only thing that Harry could say. His head was only full of "my godfather tried to kill and ran off".

'I'm sorry this turned out that way, Harry.'

'Have you, em, talked to Sirius?' Harry asked finally. 'Do you know why he did that?'

'I'm afraid the sad truth is that he simply lost control over his hate,' Dumbledore said seriously. 'No direct provocation, no duel…' Harry looked down, trying to comprehend what could have driven his godfather to such a hate.

'And then he ran away,' Harry muttered, disappointed.

'I told him to run, Harry,' Dumbledore admitted and Harry looked at him wide-eyed. 'You must not tell that to anybody, not even Ron and Hermione,' Dumbledore added seriously.

'You told him…'

'Yes. The Duke Durless came to me and said that he either wanted to get Sirius or he was going to the Ministry with that and you know what they would have done,' Dumbledore paused significantly, letting Harry remember what was Sirius' punishment. 'There was no way to get out of that situation, so I told him that he should escape and then he's going to be safer.'

'Safer with that award for his head?'

'Better than surely dead at the hands of the Duke, no? Sirius annoyed the Duke greatly and he is not a forgiving person Harry. Sirius will have the help of the Order, so he's not entirely alone. But for his own safety, his location must remain unknown I'm afraid.'

'I suppose,' Harry muttered, sinking back into the chair with a grim expression.

'I'm afraid that it'll be a difficult time for you, my dear Harry. People will speak badly about Sirius a lot now. The Daily Prophet will cling to that topic in order to not talk about Voldemort.'

'The Daily Prophet already suggested that Sirius was indeed a Deatheater and that he managed to fool everybody into believing him, that he was Voldemort's spy,' Harry informed him dryly.

'I am sorry Harry. It will be very difficult for you to listen to those things but you know they are not true. Sirius is not and has never been Voldemort's spy.'

'I know.'

'It will pass. Or we will finally capture Pettigrew and prove to the world that Sirius is innocent,' Dumbledore said, trying to give him courage.

'But now he will still be wanted for this thing…'

'We'll sort it out. Don't worry Harry.'

'Thank you, headmaster,' Harry said as he got up, feeling a bit more ready to face the reality. He hoped that Sirius will still keep in contact with him. Maybe he could meet the man at Hogsmeade before Christmas? He suggested that to Dumbledore immediately.

'We will see Harry. There is still time till then. We will see how it goes.'

Time passed in rain an gloom and the school settled into the new routine. October gave way to November. The absence of their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was not much visible, except during the lessons that were mostly taken over by Snape who looked more and more tired with each passing day.

No news about the state of their teacher reached the students officially and gossip spread. No news was good news, in a way, or at least meant that the man was not dead, but it said nothing about the condition he was in.

})i({

Towards the end of November, news appeared, saying that their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would be coming back to teach them soon. Ciel, who was a bit more informed than the rest of the students, knew it would happen, but the others took the news with some relief. Snape twice a week was wearing down even the Slytherins, not to mention an irritable and tired Snape. Sebastian reported that especially Harry Potter was relieved, happy to hear that his godfather was not a murderer this time.

Cain arrived on Saturday morning, early enough to not meet anybody, to have time to settle back into his role and find out from Snape what he had taught the students during his absence. At least that was the official version that Cain gave to the headmaster.

Ciel came to his apartment on early evening of the day of his arrival. They scheduled a dinner together to discuss things.

'Welcome back,' Ciel said as Cain opened the door for him, leaning slightly on a cane. A small smile graced Cain's face.

'Yes, yes…' he said, walking somewhat slowly to sit on the armchair. 'Thank you I suppose. Even though staying at home and doing nothing under the strict orders of Angelina was possibly more pleasant,' he added with a hint of humour.

'Sebastian,' Ciel said curtly. He was shocked that Cain was still not fully healed after so many weeks. That he was thinner was expected, but in need of a cane to support himself?

'My Lord,' his butler said with a bow.

'Prepare a dinner for us,' Ciel ordered and went to sit opposite to his uncle.

'It is very convenient to have Sebastian,' Cain noticed, relaxing in the armchair. Ciel couldn't tear his eyes away from him. 'What is it Ciel?'

'You're still not fully ok. After weeks!' Ciel stated simply.

'I'm quite good though, considering the circumstances,' Cain replied calmly and a cold shudder ran down Ciel's spine.

'What has he done to you?' Sebastian changed the tea table to something more appropriate for eating.

'I don't know,' Cain said with a shrug. 'It wasn't any spell, just a projection of his hate. Or so I have been told afterwards. I have also found out that truly magical wounds heal as slowly as the Muggle wounds with Muggle methods,' he added with some distaste. 'Hence my long absence from school.'

'Have you really been at the hospital?'

'Of course not. It would be a bit difficult to maintain secrets in the hospital. Angelina and Fleur took me to the manor and I've been there since. However, Angelina did call in some favours from the healers at your wizarding hospital, some sort of surgeons, since that is apparently beyond her capabilities.'

'My Lord, Professor,' Sebastian came with two plates covered by silver covers. 'If I may disturb you, please try some Roquefort spinach, baked with an egg, for starter,' he said and put the plates on the table between them and lifted the covers to reveal small ramekins filled with spinach and cheese and topped with an egg each.

'Remind me again why you are eating in the Great Hall?' Cain asked him after trying the starter. Sebastian served them both water after the teacher said that he was not going to have any wine.

'People would get suspicious,' Ciel muttered unhappily, also enjoying the food that Sebastian prepared. He allowed them to eat in peace, sharing some small talk, as he somehow sensed that Cain was possibly not in as good shape as he tried to pretend to be. And anyway, eating Sebastian's food was a pleasure and, thinking that he might soon have to give up all Earthly pleasures, he wanted to enjoy a bit himself as well.

'Can I borrow your butler?' Cain asked as they were finishing the orange-flavoured semifreddo that Sebastian served them for dessert.

'Only if I can join you for dinners,' Ciel joked.

'That's not a bad idea. Under the doctor's orders,' he smirked a bit and Ciel knew just which doctor it was. 'I'm not supposed to overdo it, so I have a perfect excuse to eat in here in the evenings.'

'Alright then, I will gladly escape the Great Hall anyway,' Ciel agreed and leaned back as Sebastian changed the tables and brought them tea. 'So you're not going to do the patrols anymore?'

'Absolutely out of question, I have been told.'

'So you cannot meet with Snape anymore?'

'I have had a long discussion with him today,' Cain said. 'I think I can work on my own for a while now and then I should be able to go back to my full duties.'

'So how is it going?' Ciel asked, eager to hear about the progress. He didn't exactly come to pay his uncle a visit just to wish him good health.

'It was going pretty well before,' Cain said and took a sip of the tea. 'Perfect. In any case – I have to check if there were no spells added. Before, I have managed to figure out all the spells and now it is just to remove them one by one,' he said and looked at Ciel curiously. 'You seem to be awfully interested.'

'I have found some interesting stuff,' Ciel replied to the unasked question. At the questioning look from Cain, he told the man about Horcruxes and how Harry Potter was one.

'So you want him dead,' Cain stated more than asked.

'Eventually. I think it would make for nice irony if the Dark Lord killed him himself and thus sealed his fate,' they shared a smile.

'I will need some time still, even if it is just to remove the protective spells – I only have some two hours at a time to work on that and I have to leave it seemingly intact.'

'We have some time. Sebastian is working on the other Horcruxes now and they have to be dealt with before. The last ones left should be Nagini and Potter.'

'Well then, if you find a way to delay Potter's arrival to my lesson next week, I will start immediately,' Cain promised and Ciel nodded in agreement. 'There will be another break for Christmas soon anyway, but I think it's reasonable to think that in the early spring everything will be ready.'

'Except the location of the Dark Lord.'

'Except that,' Cain agreed. 'But I will work on Snape in the meantime and in the worst case, Sebastian should be able to find the location, is that not true?'


	9. The spy game

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: The spy game**

An elegant wizard walked into the Gringotts bank, moving with grace and confidence. A couple of witches couldn't help but stare and he shot them a charming smile as he walked to the desk where a goblin was sitting.

'Good afternoon, sir,' the goblin said politely. 'Is there anything I can do to help you?'

'Good afternoon,' the wizard said politely. 'I would like to visit the Lestrange family vault.' The eyes of the wizard flashed fire red for a moment and the goblin froze.

'Of course, Mr. Lestrange,' he said in a slightly toneless voice. 'Let me take you there,' he added. The wizard followed the goblin onto a crazy ride into the deep insides of the goblin bank. They haven't said the world until they reached the vault and the goblin opened it.

'I would like to be left in private,' the wizard said. 'Please wait outside.'

'Of course.'

The wizard entered the vault and looked around. There were countless treasures and money enough to buy England, but he wasn't looking for gold. Or not directly at least.

He sniffed, trying to smell anything but greed and yes, there it was. A disgusting, fractured soul.

The wizard looked around to see a small, golden cup, which was standing on the top of a pile of golden objects. That was where the smell came from. With a graceful leap, that was simply impossible for a human being, the wizard grabbed the cup and, defying the law of physics, landed where he jumped from.

He concealed the cup in his spacious robes and left the vault. The goblin accompanied him out of the bank and he thanked him politely before leaving the building.

He sighed – it was almost disappointing how easy it was to get a hold of the Horcruxes. Destroying them was of course a different matter but after spending almost two months on the first one, he had his tricks.

})i({

Walking down the corridor, Severus Snape reminded himself just why he was punishing himself with fulfilling the orders of his headmaster. Steeling his nerves, he knocked on the door that opened immediately and he walked in. At first he didn't notice the occupant of the room, who was sitting in an armchair, in front of the fire, his cane propped against the table.

'Good evening,' Cain Kruspe said calmly. 'Please forgive me for not greeting you properly, but the teaching is wearing me off more than I thought it would.'

'Good evening,' Snape said, closing the door behind himself and walking in.

'Please take a seat,' Kruspe mentioned towards the other armchair and Snape sat down, wondering why his enemy was showing him weakness. Was it trust or was he really too tired to play the game? Or was that the game?

'I am here on the orders of Dumbledore, who is most worried about your state,' Snape said stiffly, sitting in the undeniably comfortable armchair and willing himself to not get too comfortable. The truth was that Dumbledore was horrified at the damage Sirius Black had inflicted and was hoping that the other teacher would get better not for his sake but for Sirius' sake. But that Snape didn't need to say.

'Yes, he sent me a note also. You can tell him that I'm flattered by his worry or whatever it is that he expects to hear,' he never kept the act too long around Snape. Not if they were alone at least. 'Would you like a tea or something stronger? I'm afraid that I cannot accompany you in the latter though.'

'I'll make it as short as possible, there is no need for this pretence,' Snape said curtly.

'To the contrary, my friend,' Kruspe replied, irony dripping from the last word. 'Your headmaster would certainly question me if I didn't welcome you with some tea and surely he has ways on checking what the House Elves are doing. That is, if he doesn't suspect me yet,' he added with an obvious question hidden in the last statement.

'He doesn't,' Snape said smoothly and it wasn't really a lie – Dumbledore did not suspect Kruspe of anything, he knew. 'I think he's still most shocked at what Black did.'

'Ah yes, Sirius Black who conveniently managed to escape from the best guarded house in Britain,' Kruspe said sarcastically. Snape stared at him for a moment.

'How do you know where he was?' he asked.

'Since you have been most unforthcoming with information I have managed to get some from your fellow members of the Order,' Kruspe said lightly. 'Tell me now: Dumbledore let him escape, didn't he? It's so obvious I almost don't need a confirmation.'

'He did, yes. But it might have been a stupidity, since the Dark Lord is now after him as well, as you know. Plus the head-hunters that your father-in-law unleashed.' A satisfied smirk twisted Kruspe's face at those words.

'I have no good wishes for him,' he said, his voice ice-cold. 'Next time I see him we'll talk differently, so he better hope some of the head-hunters get him.'

'The Dark Lord also wants to know how the plans for Potter are going,' Snape asked, very carefully not showing how much he wanted answer to that question. He still haven't figured out if Kruspe had any way to contact the Dark Lord otherwise, so he chose not to add anything about how he was impatient.

'Slowly,' Kruspe admitted. 'This condition will not increase my speed as I only seem to be able to get enough energy to teach and sleep,' he added with annoyance and Snape wondered again if it was the truth or an act.

'Do you have another idea?'

'Not yet, but I'm working on the way around the Port-key problem. I'm sure that there are holes in the Hogwarts security and if not, maybe you and me can create some tiny ones,' Kruspe said, finishing in a thoughtful way. Snape narrowed his eyes at him – was he so stupid?

'Dumbledore will know immediately if we weaken the security.'

'I didn't say we would weaken it,' Kruspe protested. 'We might try to weave holes into our own incantations and then those holes would not show up in the scans that Dumbledore does every evening.'

Again there was a piece of information that the Deatheater was not supposed to have! Did he trust Snape so much to say that? Or was he telling him that he had other ways of getting information? It couldn't have possibly been a bluff, could it?

'I will let the Dark Lord know,' he said finally, getting up.

'Do let him know that I need his location for the Port-key to work.'

'You want to make the Port-key yourself? In your state?' Silently, Snape did one thing he never thought he would: he thanked Black.

'I want to make a Port-key myself, yes. I have not lost any of my magic, so I don't see how it would be a problem,' Kruspe replied with irritation, convincing Snape that he really wasn't playing up his state.

})i({

With a sigh, Cain Kruspe took the cane and walked to his classroom for the detention. He wasn't as weak as he made Snape believe just a moment ago, but he was nevertheless tired towards the end of the day. If only he could simply enjoy the warmth of the fireplace and a good book, he would have been much happier.

He nodded a greeting at a couple of Ravenclaw students as they walked past and ignored the whispers he heard as they passed. With the lack of better gossip, he was the most popular topic, as Ciel told him and he supposed that his continued state of un-well-being was just adding the fuel to the fire.

We walked in the classroom and barely managed casting the spells for the session, when Potter opened the door with a curt knock.

'You know the drill, Potter,' he said and went to sit at the desk, not having to fake his fatigue at all for once. He would have to manage without the mind opening powder that he kept between some of the books – he wasn't going to get up at all in the presence of Potter today.

'Yes, sir,' Potter said and grabbed a book. Since he managed to learn all of the Defence Against the Dark Arts books his schoolmates did so far, before the attack, Cain made up some additional reading for him. The boy would be a great Auror material at the end of the school year.

Without a word, he watched the student take his usual place, congratulating himself at placing such a good charming spell on the desk. Potter probably never knew what made him choose that particular seat, so conveniently close to the bookshelf.

As Potter started reading, Cain cast a wordless spell on himself. It took almost fifteen minutes and a lot of energy, but it allowed him to see an aura of spells, although it hampered a bit normal vision. Immediately, the room walls glimmered softly with the spells he cast especially for that occasion while the silhouette of Harry Potter exploded in a rainbow of colours. With some satisfaction, he realized that the top layer was still his pretended mixture that he could open with one word.

He muttered the word and a layer of light disappeared from the silhouette, leaving a beautiful matrix of other spells. He started working on the first one, discovering that it was a some sort of anti-Imperius spell. Interestingly it seemed to increase Potter's resistance also to Legilimency by a minor fraction.

Fascinated and admiring the work that was put into the spell, Cain began to reweave it from Dumbledore's into his protective shell. It was a tedious job as the spell was truly intricate and weaved as deep as in the sub consciousness of the student, but he managed.

'I think it's past curfew now,' he vaguely heard Potter say, thankfully after he was finished with the spell. Talking always distracted him greatly and he didn't want to destroy the boy's brain. He tried to blink his vision into focus, but the spell was still on and so he only saw a silhouette.

'Professor?' Harry asked with some worry. Ah, now he'll think that I'm too tired and falling asleep or something. Well, good for my "weakened state", he thought.

'Yes, yes,' he wasn't able to see the time in his current vision and he needed to put the fake protection back on. Damn that idiot, Black! 'Just bring me back the book if you please,' he said the only thing that he could think of to get a couple of more seconds.

With a muttered word, he replaced the protection spells of his making and he took off the spell from himself, feeling absolutely exhausted.

As his normal vision returned, he saw Harry Potter, the book in his hand, extended towards him, an expression of worry on his face. He took the book, his own hand shaking slightly under the weight as he put it down as fast as possible.

'Go now,' he said harshly to the student who was now watching him with eyes wide open. 'If somebody catches you tell them it's my fault and you're not to be punished for being out past curfew,' he added. Potter looked like he wanted to say something, but he thankfully left instead.

})i({

'My Lord, we have chosen to share the tasks for the moment. I will take care of finding Black as it requires some more physical exercise and, in his weakened state, Cain is not very suitable for this task.'

'I see,' there was obvious displeasure in the voice of the Dark Lord.

'He keeps on working on delivering Potter to you. He thinks we can make holes in the Hogwarts' protection spells and thus make the Port-key work.'

'Very well, carry on.'

})i({

'Checkmate,' Ciel said with some satisfaction. Draco groaned as he realized his mistake.

'I have to practice that without you,' he said, unhappy to have lost again to his younger friend. 'I don't know how you do this.'

'I think it's a bit talent,' Ciel said, gathering his chess set back. He preferred Muggle chess to the wizard ones, because they were more peaceful and absolutely obedient. 'And a bit the fact that I did only that for probably three years of my life,' he added. Chess became his favourite pastime when he was recovering from asthma attacks.

He leaned back with a smile. All the pieces were coming together nicely. The Dark Lord was blissfully ignorant or else he would have removed Ciel from the scene already, or tried to at least. Sebastian was working on the Horcruxes, hopefully neutralising one tonight, while Cain was working on Potter. Once both of them were done, he would be able to proceed with his plan and say the final and most important "checkmate" of his life.


	10. The last artefact

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: The last artefact**

Christmas came and went without much adventures for Harry. He managed to impress everybody with his Defence Against the Dark Arts knowledge, but Dumbledore, who came to visit, was not very impressed when he found out the reason for the knowledge.

Harry shook his head, remembering the lecture he got about being late to the lessons, not that he expected anything different. He was just shocked when Dumbledore said he would talk with Professor Kruspe to ask if it was really necessary to give Harry detentions every time he was late – at that point Harry simply stared.

Later he told that to Ron and Hermione and they were both just as shocked and wondering why would the headmaster do anything about the situation, especially if Harry didn't really complain. Of course he didn't appreciate to have detention almost every week, but he hadn't lost any points for Gryffindor and really the only thing he did was doing a bit of extra studying – if he was in the common room, he'd be doing homework anyway.

Hermione even went as far as wondering if this whole "detention for being late" was a big scheme to teach Harry more Defence Against the Dark Arts because if there was somebody who was going to need it, it was Harry. However, if it was the case, Dumbledore wouldn't have said he'd go and talk with the teacher.

Now he was back in the school with the strong desire to avoid any more detentions. It became a running joke in Gryffindor: "what day is it?" "Wednesday, Potter's in detention". He laughed at it, but it was annoying, especially since he needed now to put more effort into Quidditch to win with Slytherin.

'I have my book,' he spoke more to himself than to Ron, who was watching him with a grin. They already went through that a couple of times and always there was something that delayed Harry.

'You have your pants and they're clean,' Ron added, almost laughing at the memory when Harry realized that he had a huge stain on his ass and refused to go to class like that.

'Very funny Ron – whatever I sat on, it was damn difficult to remove from them!' If he knew who played that particular joke on him there would be hell to pay. 'Right, I have everything,' he said and they went for breakfast.

Feeling paranoid, he checked if his book was in place every two minutes – it was there every time he checked. Could he have really forgotten it so many times? It could hardly have gone back to the dormitory on it's own after all.

Mail arrived and Harry was surprised to get a letter as well. He quickly unfolded the note, as the owl waited. He read it three times, not able to believe that he had forgotten such an important thing as meeting with Sirius! Without much thinking, he grabbed the quill to scribble a reply

'Harry! There's no time!' Hermione hissed. 'You'll be late again!'

'No, I'll catch you on the way,' he muttered back and she left, pulling Ron behind herself with a "suit yourself". They were gone and Harry looked at the note. Yup, it was ready. No, wait – he got the hour wrong…

Ha attached the piece of paper to the owls leg with some problems and ran out of the Great Hall, so determined to not be late that he even forgot about the book.

In his haste, he bumped into Filch and has to stop to apologize so that he doesn't take any points from Gryffindor. As he rushed into the classroom twenty people looked at him, Ron and Hermione with incredulous glares.

'I am going to start thinking that you are enjoying your weekly detentions, Mr. Potter,' Professor Kruspe said, sounding almost surprised that Harry was late again. 'I'm afraid this week you will have to come tomorrow evening, rather than tonight.'

'Yes, sir,' Harry said with resignation as he took his place next to Ron. He knew better than to argue.

'How is that possible?' Ron asked him, sounding amazed. Harry shrugged, busy taking the notebook. Their teacher had already returned to the lesson.

After the lesson he told him and Hermione that he bumped into Filch and that it delayed him, that it truly wasn't his fault that he was late. He also told them that he would be meeting Sirius that night. That the note was from him and that Harry forgot to answer before and needed to do it immediately. Ron asked excitedly if he could join, while Hermione, who hadn't once said a good word about Sirius since he almost killed their teacher, didn't say anything.

})i({

Ciel knocked on the door of his uncle's apartment. They decided that keeping the habit of eating separately every week was worth the risk of people suspecting something.

'It's good to see you back in shape, sort of,' Ciel said as Cain came to open the door and he noticed that the man wasn't using the cane for once. He still kept it when he walked around the school. But it was obvious that he was doing better.

'I could almost think that you're worried,' Cain half-joked and Ciel made a face.

'You're helping me, you know,' he pointed out. 'It's not like I wish you anything bad.'

'Now, now – I didn't want to make you feel guilty. Come and sit please and let your butler do his magic,' Cain said and they settled in the armchairs as Sebastian came to ask what they wanted to eat.

'Nothing even remotely Christmas-y,' Ciel said immediately.

'Something that goes well with red wine,' Cain spoke a second later, adding that he had some wine and Sebastian should check what would go well with what. With a bow, Sebastian left only to return some moments later with a delicious starter, followed by a truly exquisite beef-based dish.

They were in the middle of the meal, when Cain suddenly dropped his cutlery and gripped his left forearm with his right hand, a wince of pain twisting his face. Ciel watched it happen with some fascination.

'What do you do when that happens in public?' he asked when his uncle's expression relaxed. Cain looked at him as though he forgot that he had company.

'It's always an issue, but usually it doesn't catch me off guard,' he replied, a bit annoyed at himself.

'You know, Sebastian could remove it for you before he takes my soul,' Ciel said, surprising even himself. Cain gave him a long and careful look. 'It will always mean something and I personally think it's awful to be branded by whoever,' he added, a hard edge to his voice.

'Can Sebastian really do that?' Cain asked, not wanting to voice his thoughts. He didn't particularly regret having the tattoo, but he knew that after the fall of the Dark Lord, it will be a rather uncomfortable decoration.

'It will hurt,' Sebastian said out of the blue, as he came to pour more wine into his glass. 'But if my master so desires then who am I to fail him?'

'The Dark Lord would know.'

'I can have Sebastian do it after he's dead.'

A long while of silence fell between them as Cain looked in the fire, thoughtful and Ciel looked at him, observing. He was almost sure what they final decision will be, but he assumed it took time to decide. After a couple of minutes, Cain looked at the clock on the wall.

'I have to go on my patrol now, we'll talk about it later,' he said, getting up. As Ciel also got up, Sebastian cleaned instantaneously and Cain put on the outer robes and took his cane.

'Do you still need it?' Ciel asked, wondering if he was just playing up to make everybody around more careless.

'Not really, no,' Cain replied with a smirk. 'But let's keep it our little secret, Earl Phantomhive. After you,' he added, opening the door and letting Ciel and his cat out.

})i({

Hidden under the Invisibility Cloak together with Ron, Harry walked down the corridor quietly. It was already past curfew and they needed to avoid the teachers patrolling the corridors and get to the Shrieking Shack, where Sirius would be waiting.

They turned the corner, so far lucky, but Harry didn't even dare to comment on that to Ron and, from the silence, he guessed that Ron felt the same. Another corner.

In the last moment, Harry managed to stop the two of them and move aside to let the patrolling teacher pass. He would have cursed if he could – it was the very least person he wanted to see out and about that night. Even Snape would have been better.

Next to him Ron groaned and Harry looked to see professor Kruspe meeting with Snape, giving him a polite nod and then saying something Harry couldn't hear. Harry decided that he should not think things like that again – Snape out in the hallways was also bad.

What the hell? – Harry thought when Snape stopped and replied to whatever the other teacher said.

'Let's come closer, I can't hear them,' he whispered to Ron, hoping that the teachers wouldn't hear them either. Ron nodded and they took two steps forward, but froze when Snape looked at them, the other professor following his gaze, raising an eyebrow to see Snape glare at nothing.

'If it is you, Potter, in your silly Invisibility Cloak, you're going to regret coming to this school,' Snape hissed. Harry and Ron stood frozen in the spot, not even daring to breathe, as Snape tried to grab for the cloak. His hand was millimetres away and Harry was sure he was going to try again, but Kruspe spoke at that moment.

'You're growing a bit too paranoid, Snape,' he said with the slightest hint of mocking in his voice. Immediately, Snape looked at him. Harry couldn't see, but he supposed that he must have said something, because the other man's expression changed into surprise first and suspicion moments later. Then Snape stormed away and Harry and Ron remained frozen under the thoughtful gaze of Kruspe who couldn't see them, but they didn't dare to make a sound in the dead silence of the night.

It seemed like eternity has passed before their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher smirked in a way that made a shudder run down Harry's spine and turned to go his way.

'That was creepy,' Ron breathed when they were sure none of the teachers should be able to hear them.

'Let's go, we're late,' Harry said and they rushed as fast as they could, while still staying quiet. 'And don't mention who we met to Sirius. Just let me do the talking about that, ok?'

'Why? Oh,' Ron said. They went the rest of the way in silence and reached the shack without a problem.

'You're late,' Sirius said when they appeared in front of him. 'I almost thought you weren't coming,' he added with a tone of sadness and insecurity that Harry hated to hear in his voice.

'We had a run in with the teachers patrolling the corridors, needed to take the round way,' he said smoothly. It wasn't that he as afraid Sirius would go on a murderous rampage in the school, no – his godfather seemed to fall into himself every time his victim was mentioned or even hinted at. And Harry wanted to spend some nice time with him.

Thankfully Sirius didn't ask why Hermione didn't come with them.

})i({

With some satisfaction, Sebastian grabbed the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw – the last of the Horcruxes he needed to find.

Without a hesitation, he inhaled the piece of soul hidden within, ignoring the bitter and rotten taste.


	11. Checkmate

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

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**Chapter 11: Checkmate**

'So you say that Snape has told Dumbledore everything?' Cain asked Ciel thoughtfully. They were standing in his apartment, together with Sebastian, moments before the good-bye feast was supposed to start.

'Yes, Sebastian was spying on him,' Ciel confirmed. 'Dumbledore knows that you're a Deatheater, that you have made a plan to deliver Potter to the Dark Lord and that you have asked the Dark Lord to come tonight to the Forbidden forest.'

'That certainly makes things more difficult,' Cain said. He underestimated the treachery of Snape.

'It just means you can't go there,' Ciel pointed out calmly. 'It is of no consequence for me and, if you stay with the teachers all the time they will have no proof that you were involved.'

'I believe the other teachers would rather trust their headmaster than me. And what do you mean they will have no proof?'

'Sebastian could remove it before,' Ciel said and raised his hand when Cain was about to speak. 'I know the Dark Lord will know, but I will already be on my way with Potter and then he will not think about you until it's too late. And as for Dumbledore – they have no proof, just their words.'

'Your father didn't have the tattoo,' Cain pointed out. 'That creates a precedence and will be enough for them.'

'But do they know that he didn't?'

'I'll humour you for a moment. What do you want to do?' Cain asked and Ciel led him, step by step through the whole sequence that he made up.

'My Lord, we should start before Potter arrives to the Great Hall,' Sebastian said suddenly. 'The time for the feast is nearing and if the professor doesn't join the other teachers they will get immediately suspicious.'

'Do it then,' Cain said curtly. 'If that is how you see it.'

'I will die anyway tonight,' Ciel pointed out. 'You don't have to. My grandfather and aunt will be sad enough with my death, there is no reason to sacrifice you as well.'

'You might want to put a powerful silencing spell on this room, professor,' Sebastian said with a bow. Cain complied and the demon-butler asked him to pull up his left sleeve.

When it was done, the demon put his hand to the skin. An explosion of light and pain blinded him and he couldn't stop the scream that tore itself out of his throat.

He collapsed when the demon took his hand away and would have fallen to the floor if the demon hadn't been there to catch him and seat him in one of the armchairs, where he stayed for a while, panting in pain.

'I'm afraid there was no other way,' Sebastian said, but Cain was busy looking at his left forearm – without the threatening tattoo for the first time in many years. Just the scars from his clumsy heal charm remained. He shook his head to clear the thoughts and looked at Ciel.

'You don't have much time left,' he stated, pain audible in his voice. 'I will remove all the protection spells from Potter in five minutes. Then I will join the teachers and pretend nothing happened. If you don't manage-'

'I will manage,' Ciel said. 'Thank you for your help and good luck,' he added and left the room. Realizing that it was the last time he saw the boy alive, Cain pursed his lips.

Nevertheless, he counted off five minutes and muttered the spell that stripped Harry Potter from all the magical protection that Dumbledore had woven around the boy over the years.

Just like that. Potter was defenceless and Cain needed to hurry to the Great Hall to create his alibi. Without hesitation, he went to join the other teachers, smiling smugly at Snape's narrowed eyes. Dumbledore seemed surprised to see him and Cain almost laughed – it would give them some thinking until they know the truth.

'Well then, the students should arrive soon,' Dumbledore said finally. Cain hoped that somebody has seen Potter after that moment. While the wizards kept no videos or transcripts that could prove him guilty, which made it easier than working with Muggles, he would be happier if there was no doubt that he hadn't deposited Potter away before joining the other teachers.

Hermione ran into the Great Hall, making straight for the headmaster, shouting for him. All the teachers and the few students who have already arrived looked at her.

'Hermione? Is everything alright?' Dumbledore asked, making Cain roll his eyes. He had a good feeling of what was wrong, but he tried to look convincingly worried.

'It's Harry, Professor,' she almost sobbed. 'We were going to the Great Hall when he suddenly stopped and turned to go somewhere else!'

'What?' McGonagall exclaimed. Cain felt a tip of a wand dig into his back and he automatically straightened a bit more.

'He didn't react to anything we said and he cursed Ron, when we tried to stop him and he was going to curse me as well but I ducked,' Hermione said breathlessly.

Much to the surprise of everybody gathered in the room, except for Cain, Dumbledore turned to face him.

'Your game is over. Where is Harry?' he asked angrily and the wand dug deeper into his back, to the point of actually hurting.

'How should I know?' he asked, mixing confusion and a bit of fear into his voice. It was indeed quite a gamble that he was doing.

'You can stop your game, I know everything,' Dumbledore said quietly, so that only Cain heard him. 'I know you're a Deatheater and a spy.'

'What?' Cain exclaimed in a hopefully convincing act, then he yelled a bit and jumped away from the wand that was threatening to make a hole in him.

'Roll up your sleeve, Deatheater,' Snape growled.

'Which one?' Cain asked innocently and ducked when Snape tried to punch him with a roar. 'Shouldn't we be looking for Potter?' he added with the same, innocent tone. 'As a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher I would like to say that this sounds awfully like Imperius Curse.' Snape tore off his left sleeve and stared at three long and thin scars that ran along the forearm.

'Thank you,' Cain said with annoyance. 'Now I have to get another suit and shirt.'

'What is the meaning of this, Severus?' Dumbledore asked.

'Albus, we should find Potter,' McGonagall, who must have been very confused at that point, although it was obvious what Snape and Dumbledore were thinking about him, interjected.

'Call all the members of the Order,' Dumbledore shouted, as though waking up from a dream. 'Search the castle! You!' Dumbledore turned to him. 'Stay with Severus and me at all times.'

'As you wish, headmaster. Although please forgive me if I can't quite run to my top speed yet,' he added just as the members of the Order of the Phoenix rushed into the room.

Oh how he wished to kill Black, he thought but knew that he needed to restrain himself. This revenge would have to wait till later.

Dumbledore put them into teams and rushed out to search the castle himself, Cain barely managing to follow.

})i({

Voldemort felt as though somebody stabbed him – a Deatheater died. Was this Cain and was this whole thing a trap? – he wondered. He had been often warned that Severus was a traitor and that he should be careful – should he have listened to those voices?

He would have started pacing if not for the fact that there were two Deatheaters with him. Severus said "it's safe, you don't have to bring an army and less people will be less noticeable" – was it a trap? With a motion he called one of the Deatheaters and touched his wand to the tattoo. Everybody should come now – if it was a trap Severus was going down.

Just as the Deatheaters started arriving, forming a circle around him, two figures walked in from between the trees. Both looked like they were students and Voldemort ordered the Deatheaters to leave when he realized that it was none other than Ciel Phantomhive, his wand pointed at Harry Potter, who walked towards his nemesis with an empty look on his face.

By the time they reached him, it was just the three of them, Nagini and a black cat.

'Ciel Phantomhive,' Voldemort said with a slow smile.

'Dark Lord,' Ciel replied with the tiniest of bows. 'I believe that you desired this student,' he added coldly and Voldemort laughed.

'I can't believe that Cain had sent Vincent's son to meet me!' he exclaimed. 'Ingenious really. That way he skips all suspicion!' Ciel looked at him emotionlessly and so Voldemort, a bit unsettled, turned his attention to Potter.

'Undo the spell,' he ordered and Potter's eyes focused. He first saw Ciel but before he could ask what was happening, he noticed Voldemort and stumbled away. Ciel watched him without emotion and he opened his mouth to say something, but words never left his lips.

'The hero of the world. Speechless,' Voldemort goaded and laughed. 'Finally at my mercy!'

'Just kill him,' Ciel ordered coldly, shocking both Voldemort and Potter. 'I want to talk with you and we don't have forever before somebody goes looking for that annoying kid.'

'Well, well, Earl Phantomhive,' Voldemort hissed. 'You are certainly impatient, but you should know that I don't take orders from anybody,' his voice took a threatening tone, but the boy just glared at him with his only visible eye. Amazed that somebody stood ground against him, Voldemort suddenly decided that he indeed wanted to talk with that amazing boy who was not afraid of him and, offhandedly, cast a killing curse at Potter.

As his fellow student collapsed on the ground, a small smile graced Ciel's lips.

'Did you order my parents murdered?' Ciel asked and Voldemort's eyes widened a fraction. Then he smiled.

'So you have found that out, haven't you?' he purred. 'Such a smart boy you are. You will surely make a fine Deatheater one day. I'm glad Cain sent you here.'

'Nobody sent me here,' Ciel said coldly and pulled off his eye-patch. Voldemort saw the seal of a contract and took a step back.

'You have contracted my demon!' he hissed, finally realizing what happened that bloody night when he lost twenty of his best Deatheaters.

'Your demon?' Ciel asked mockingly. 'If anything it would have been Malfoy's demon because you were too much of a coward to do it yourself.'

'Watch it, boy,' Voldemort hissed. 'I don't have endless patience, even for such promising Deatheaters.'

'Sebastian,' Ciel called coldly. The butler stepped out of the shadows to the side, carrying the dead snake.

'Nagini!' Voldemort exclaimed in distress, suddenly realizing what was happening. 'You took the cup from the vault!'

'I have found out about your Horcruxes. They are all gone now and it's only you and the demon,' Ciel said emotionlessly. 'Kill him Sebastian.'

'Yes, my Lord,' the butler bowed.

'Checkmate,' said Ciel and then Voldemort didn't hear anything anymore.


	12. God knows I don't want to be an angel

**Kuroshitsuji belongs to Yana Toboso, Harry Potter to JK Rowling.**

**This unlikely crossover idea, Cain Kruspe ("Play with me" by kantellis on deviantArt) and the words are mine though so please don't take them.**

**Read and review!**

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**Epilogue: God knows I don't want to be an angel**

After Dumbledore told him to stay with him and ran out of the Great Hall everything took on a rather surreal quality. He slowed them down, but anyway, somehow it was them who found the corridor on the seventh floor.

He knew that they would find the Room of Requirement open and he knew that if they followed the tunnel it became, they would end up in the Forbidden Forest. He knew what they would find there. Three lifeless bodies and a dead snake. Whispering of the wind in the leaves and no blood.

Dealing with Muggles for the most of his life, he still found it amazing how bloodless a wizard's death could be. Just a soul stolen from a body – nobody would know a difference between the killing curse and the demon's job.

With a desperate "no!", Dumbledore collapsed crying, next to the empty shell that was Potter's body. Snape stood where he stopped and looked emotionlessly at the dead body of their Dark Lord. No, his Dark Lord – Cain thought with some satisfaction. He was no longer a Deatheater, something that even Snape couldn't achieve despite his treachery.

For the longest time they formed a still picture, except for the shaking shoulders of Dumbledore. The whisper of the wind and Dumbledore's sobs were the only thing Cain could hear.

Then more people came, forming a shocked circle around them, speechless before they cried and screamed. Elizabeth pushed through to the front and gasped before fainting. Thankfully Draco caught her. Hermione crumbled to the ground, crying her heart out. Nobody dared to come closer.

As though awoken from a dream after what seemed like an eternity, Cain took a couple of steps and bent down to pick Ciel's body up – he deserved to not be left laying on the cold ground in the dirt. The Duke and Angelina deserved to know.

Nobody stopped him as he went. Rather, they formed a passage, not daring to even touch him and the small body he was carrying. Such a light body, so fragile. With some detached surprise he realized that the blurring of his vision was not due to the shock but the tears that were welling in his eyes. He could feel them, trailing down his face silently.

The cold and cruel part of him realized just how amazing was the alibi that Ciel had given him – nobody would even dare to suggest that it was his doing, his hard work that lead Harry Potter to his death. Not if they saw him like that, carrying the small body away and disappearating as soon as it was possible. And the whole school saw him and his tears.

There was one room in the manor, where the anti-apparition wards were set to start an alarm and to contain the intruder. He appearated there and waited for the guards, as the alarm howled. He had no more strength to go anywhere.

The guards arrived and stood in shock when they recognized him. He just looked at them wordlessly. What was there to be said?

One of the guards finally moved, probably to pick up the Duke or Angelina. Cain simply stood there waiting, mind blank.

'Cain, what-' Angelina trailed of, coming into the room. He watched as her eyes widened in disbelief and then welled up with tears, as her hand moved to cover her lips. He listened to the strangled cry that escaped her as she rushed closer.

'What happened?' she asked in a pained whisper. He closed his eyes, as much because he didn't want to talk about it as because he needed to make up a story that he would be able to repeat afterwards.

'I don't know,' he said finally as she helped him to lay the small body on the ground between them. The Duke also arrived, worried by the continuous alarm. He stood speechless in the doorway, shocked.

The alarm finally stopped howling.

With trembling fingers, Angelina checked for the pulse. He hadn't even bothered before. He looked down when her eyes met his, not able to watch the despair that shone in her gaze. He watched as she pushed the hair off the boy's face instead.

'Oh Ciel,' she whispered and started crying in the earnest, her sobs tearing at the heavy silence of the room. He knew that she loved Ciel as though he was her own son. Even he was growing fond of the boy… Fresh tears filled Cain's eyes.

'When I started to believe that things were going well,' the Duke whispered from the doorway. Cain looked up to see the tear-stained face of the old man, looking absolutely broken as he gazed at the body of his grandson.

He looked down and closed his eyes, letting the tears fall. Silently.

})i({

Elizabeth couldn't believe what had happened. One moment she was happily heading for the Great Hall, looking forward to spend the summer with Ciel, next there were people running around, shouting about finding Potter and, when they finally did, Ciel was there too…

The next thing she knew was that she was home, in her bed. Her mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, crying silently and all of Elizabeth's memories returned. With a strangled sob, she remembered how strangely peaceful Ciel looked.

'I'm so sorry, my dear,' her mother sobbed, realizing that she was awake. Elizabeth sat up to hug her and they held each other tightly, crying.

She spent the following week alternating between sleeping and crying. Nothing mattered anymore. All she could think of was how Ciel would never be there to smile at her, how he would never hold her hand and how they would never be happy together anymore. She wouldn't have gotten out of her bed, if not for the funeral.

There she was, standing under the unforgiving sun, her thoughts and soul black. Rain would have been more appropriate. Rain would blend with her tears, would wash them away.

The birds were singing, but all she could hear were the mourning bells. The flowers were in bloom, but all she could see was the coffin that contained her fiancé. Many people came, but she ignored them all.

When the coffin was lowered to the ground and covered with dirt and it was time to leave Ciel's aunt came to hug her.

'Don't worry, Lizze. Ciel is now with the angels and you'll see him again one day,' she said in a tear-filled voice. Elizabeth clang to her and to that thought. She would see Ciel again one day. Behind Angelina, Cain looked away.

**The End**

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**So this is all about Ciel and Cain in the world of Harry Potter. I hope you enjoyed reading and thank you very much for all the comments and favorites – it means a lot.**

**See you next time I get an idea for a story ;)**


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